Candle Light
by Kittyclaw
Summary: OxA, Songfic. Together on their walk Odd and Aelita find themselves caught in the rain. Heading for the factory, the pair finds themselves sharing conversation, cuddles, and the glow of candle light. Prize fic for SnowPrincessMossy.


**After much too long of a wait, it is finally here! The story I have owed SnowPrincessMossy since time began, for her win in the Xana's Lair Mock Elections as Ms. Lyoko. She asked for an OxA song fic to the song "Don't Turn off the Lights" but Enrique Iglesisas. I hope this story was worth the wait Snowy!**

It had been a late evening in August, the air was crisp and a soft breeze blew, when Aelita had asked Odd to join her on a walk through the forest. Jeremy had said he was busy with homework but Aelita didn't want that to stop her from enjoying herself.

Leaves crunched under foot as they walked, a twig snapped, and the trees rustled with the sound of chattering, scampering squirrels. It was like the symphony of the forest playing out around them, and it had Aelita completely enraptured. Smiling green eyes traced through the tree limbs, watching as the birds and squirrels leapt back and forth, jumping and playing high above the ground. Moments later her gaze was trained on the ground, watching a big shiny beetle as it scurried about across the leaves. A breeze blew through the trees and caught a handful of the foliage, sweeping it up and swirling it thought the air. Aelita's eyes lit with wonder at the sight.

"Having fun princess?" Odd asked, smiling at her amazement. Aelita turned to look at him over her shoulder, a grin on her face.

"This is so amazing!" she told him, gesturing around the forest. "Earth is such a wonderful place."

"Yeah, it is pretty nice," Odd said with a nod. Aelita smiled, then turned and skipped over to one of the tall trees, resting her hands against its bark, running her fingers along its knobbed and gnarled surface. Her expression softened to one of a sort of calm concentration as she brushed her fingertips along the tree. Odd stopped walking to watch her, hands stuffed in his pockets and head tilted a little.

"Isn't it amazing?" Aelita asked softly, eyes sparkling with her smile. "It's like you can feel the life in the trees."

"Are you sure that isn't just tree sap?" Odd asked with a lopsided smile. Aelita gave him a confused look.

"Tree sap?"

"Yeah," Odd said, walking over to where the pink haired girl stood. "It's, well it's kind of like the tree's blood I guess." Reaching up Odd dug his fingers into the grooves around one of the tall pine's pieces of bark and pried it loose from the tree. Immediately the space where he had ripped it from began to ooze a thick, golden liquid.

"Odd!" Aelita gasped, "You've hurt it!" She reached her hand forward to cover the spot on the tree, but Odd stopped her.

"No, don't touch it!" he warned. "If you get sap on your hands you'll never get it off."

"Never?" Aelita asked, quickly pulling her hand away again.

"Well, not 'never'. But it will take a few days, and everything you touch will stick to it."

"Oh," Aelita said quietly. Her eyes remained on the little pool of sap though. "Shouldn't we do something?"

"Don't worry," Odd said, "It'll harden up soon and be just as good as if the bark was still there."

"Really?"

"Yep," Odd said with a nod. "Like how blood turns into a scab."

"Oh," Aelita said again, nodding slightly, though there was a slight frown creasing her forehead. "It still doesn't seem very nice to make it bleed."

"Well, uh, it's not exactly like bleeding," Odd said, digging through his memories for whatever he knew about tree sap in an effort to soothe Aelita's worries. "Tree's use their sap for other things too."

"Like what?" Aelita asked curiously.

"Like, they defend themselves with it," Odd said. "Say a bird tries to peck through the park, the sap would come out and stick on the bird's beak. And since sap isn't nice to peck through the bird would stop pecking and leave."

"So when the sap came out then, the tree was just protecting itself from you?" Aelita asked. Odd nodded. Aelita turned back to the tree, chewing her bottom lip slightly as she laid her hand against the bark beside the sappy spot. "I wish the trees in the forest sector had been like this. So alive and intelligent."

"Well, the trees aren't really intelligent," Odd said. "They don't think to make the sap."

"But then how do they know to make it when they're attacked?" Aelita asked. Odd opened his mouth, then shut it again with a shrug.

"They just…do."

"That doesn't make sense," Aelita said, turning her eyes back to the tree. "And how can you be sure? You can't ask the tree what it thinks and feels after all."

Odd opened his mouth to answer, but then shut it again when he realized a good response hadn't come to him. He then scowled when Aelita giggled. She turned to look at him, a smile on her lips. A breeze blew that tugged on her pink locks and her eyes sparkled in the pale light.

Odd was embarrassed to find himself blushing. "You ask a lot of questions, you know?" he told her.

"Well I can't learn if I don't ask questions," she told him.

That had been Odd and Aelita's first walk through the forest together, and it wouldn't be their last.

_I don't have to tell you  
What this is all about  
'Cause baby half the fun, is  
In us figuring it all out_

"Come on Odd!"

"What's the rush?" Odd asked innocently. Aelita rolled her eyes and tromped back through the trees to where he was walking, his pace slow and casual.

"We'll never get there if you keep walking this slowly," she said, grabbing his wrist. Odd half heartedly tried to tug it back away.

"I still don't know where 'there' is," he reminded the pink haired girl. She gave him a mischievous grin.

"That's the point!"

"Why?" Odd almost, but not quite whined.

"I want this to be a surprise," Aelita answered, like someone who was trying patiently to explain something for the umpteenth time to a small child. "It won't be any fun if you know what's coming!"

"What if what's coming is something I won't like?" Odd asked. "For all I know you're leading me to a big hole in the ground so you can push me into it."

Aelita laughed, tugging on Odd's arm to make him pick up the pace. "Well, you'd be surprised wouldn't you?" It was now Odd's turn to roll his eyes, although it was offset by the grin splitting his face.

"This is true," he said seriously. "I would be surprised." Aelita laughed, looping her arm with Odd's and leading him on through the forest.

"Hey Odd," she said after a few minutes of quiet walking.

"Yes?"

"Remember the first time you took me for a walk?"

"Uh, yeah," Odd said, taking a moment to remember. "Why?"

"Well," Aelita said, "That was exactly one year ago today!"

Odd turned to look at Aelita, his eyes wide and tone incredulous. "You remembered the date of our first walk in the woods?"

"Of course," Aelita said, a smile on her face. "It was one of the first things I ever did after coming to earth. I wrote all of those things down so I wouldn't forget them."

"You really wrote that stuff down?" Odd asked, his voice softer now.

"Well when I first came here everything was so knew and amazing," Aelita said. As she spoke her eyes drifted around the woods, finding the areas where the light shown through the leaves. "In Lyoko when things happened, like a tower being activated, or Jeremy doing work, the time and date of it was logged in the computer. I sort of thought that was how humans did things on earth too." Aelita wrinkled her nose sheepishly. "That's kind of silly huh?"

"No, not at all," Odd said. "People here do that sort of thing all the time. It's called keeping a diary."

"Really?"

"Mhmm," Odd hummed. "I think Jeremy has one too actually." Odd grinned. "I know Ulrich has one."

"He does?" Aelita asked. Odd nodded.

"He uses it to write all about how much he loves Yumi in it." Aelita laughed although it soon died off, her expression becoming pensive.

"Hey Odd," she said, "Do you think Jeremy ever writes about me in his diary?"

"I'm sure he does," Odd answered, not missing a beat. "If he writes about you half as much as he talks about you then you're the only thing in his diary." Aelita's eyes went wide, a deep blush staining her cheeks.

"I'm sure he doesn't talk about me that much," she mumbled.

"Oh yes he does," Odd said. "If I didn't like you so much I would think it was annoying."

"…like me?" Aelita repeated in surprise. Odd began to nod, then blushed himself when he realized what his words could be implying.

"I don't mean like, _like_ like you," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I just meant like you as in like a friend like type like you."

"Odd," Aelita said, quirking an eyebrow at her friend's babble.

"Yes?"

"That…made no sense."

It was now Odd's turn to laugh. He then looped his arm with Aelita's. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're my friend."

Aelita smiled. "You're my friend too."

For a moment or two the pair shared a companionable silence, just enjoying their freshly expressed friendship before Odd again spoke up.

"So, about that surprise?"

"I'm not telling Odd," Aelita said flatly. "You'll just have to wait." Odd sighed heavily, causing Aelita to laugh. "Don't worry Odd," she said, "It will be worth it. I promise."

_So why you gotta ask me  
What I'm doing now  
'Cause I don't like to question  
What I still haven't found_

It was as Aelita pointed out a rather spectacular flower to Odd that they first heard it. And even though she had been on earth for a few years now, Aelita still couldn't help but jump when a crack of thunder echoed across the sky. Odd quirked a humored eyebrow at her when she bumped into him; which she answered by blowing a raspberry at him.

"That doesn't sound good," Odd said when a second thunder clap sounded. "I hope your surprise is inside Aelita."

"I wish it was," the pink haired girl said, pouting slightly at the dark clouds starting to roll in. "I guess it'll just have to wait for another time. Let's head back."

"Do you think we'll be able to beat the rain back to school?" Odd asked as the pair started heading back the way that they had come.

"I'm sure we will," Aelita said.

Five minutes later and Aelita found herself taking back her words as the first fat drops of rain splattered down through the tree tops. Odd pulled his hood over his spike of hair while Aelita grabbed his arm, attempting to use it as a makeshift umbrella. Odd's lack of any possible body fat made the action rather fruitless, a fact Aelita was quick to point out.

"Scrawny?" Odd said, repeating Aelita's word choice. "I am not 'Scrawny'. I'm Svelte."

"Odd," Aelita said.

"Yes?"

"Spell 'Svelte'."

"S-V-…" Odd trailed off uncertainly. "It's too wet out here to discuss school type things," the blonde said quickly, as if the weather explained completely his lack of spelling ability. Aelita laughed.

"Got mildew on the brain?" she asked playfully. Odd pulled a face.

"Maybe."

"Well then," Aelita said with a grin, "We should hurry and get you somewhere dry shouldn't we?"

"Yes," Odd said. He then stood straight, puffing out his chest and pointing through the trees in the direction of the school. "To Kadic!" he commanded. Another earth shaking thunder clap caused Odd to jump, the blond quickly foregoing his heroic pose to scoot closer to Aelita. "Maybe there's somewhere closer?"

"That would be nice," Aelita said. "But where could we go? I don't think there's even a cave nearby here."

"Good point," Odd said, frowning. He looked around as he tried to think of a solution, squinting to see through the thick grey drizzle of rain, which was quickly becoming a downpour. "Hey, I know," he said, eyes widening as he was hit with an idea, "maybe we can't hide in a cave, but what about a tunnel?"

"A tunnel, Odd?" Aelita said, quirking an eyebrow. "I think you really do have mildew in your head."

"Do not," Odd said with a huff. "And I mean the tunnel to the factory! It's near here, right? We can use it and head to the factory, then stay there until it stops raining." Aelita gave Odd an approving look.

"That's a good idea Odd," she said, flashing her friend a smile. Odd grinned.

"It's been known to happen."

"Once in a blue moon?" Aelita asked. Odd started to nod, then paused when he realized what it was Aelita had said.

"Hey! I ha-"

"Come one Odd," Aelita said, cutting the blond off. "Let's get to the tunnel."

"Fine," Odd huffed, though he smiled when Aelita looped her arm in his and began to lead the way towards the sewer.

_So tell me how  
Were gonna get you  
It's so hard to even try  
But if we move together  
We'll end up on the same side_

Odd had never noticed that when all of your trips through the sewer happened at a breakneck pace on a skateboard you miss a lot of interesting details about the underground tunnel. The place was like a second set of streets hidden thirty feet below the first, with all sorts of twists and turns and side paths and alleys, all going off in so many directions it made Odd wonder how Jeremy had ever figured out how to get to the factory the first time going this way without getting lost for days.

Walking close beside Odd, Aelita seemed to be thinking along the same thoughts has her friend.

"Isn't it amazing down here?" she asked as her head turned to look down one of the side tunnels. "It's like a sidewalk underground."

"At least the way we use it," Odd said with a grin.

"Sort of," Aelita said, smiling back. "Oh, look!" she said suddenly, grabbing Odd's arm and pointing. Following her finger, Odd found the large rat Aelita had spotted.

"Ew, Aelita, those things are gross," Odd said, pulling a face.

"So?" Aelita asked. "They're still kind of cute. And if they're so gross, why do people keep them as pets?"

"Who keeps them as pets?" Odd asked, turning to look at Aelita.

"Jim mentioned it," Aelita said, "He told me he used to keep rats."

"Really?" Odd asked. "What did he have to say about it?" Aelita shrugged.

"He said he'd rather not talk about it."

Odd gave a snort of laughter. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I was actually hoping he would tell me about it," Aelita said. "His stories always sound like they would be so interesting."

"I don't know," Odd said, wrinkling his nose. "Ulrich and Yumi told me they heard one of his stories once. Apparently it wasn't the valiant war story they were expecting." Aelita laughed.

"That's okay. We have our own amazing stories."

"That we do," Odd agreed. He grinned at Aelita. "And our own amazing people."

"Oh yes," Aelita said with a nod. She then motioned to the upcoming ladder leading to the factory. "How would one of those amazing people like to help me get out of this sewer?"

"Gladly princess."

_If you could know  
What I'm feeling  
Would you run  
And where would you go _

The run from the sewer to the factory was both very wet and very hilarious. Odd hadn't run two feet before slipping and falling into a large puddle, leaving Aelita laughing so hard she had to stop running, leaning on her knees for support.

"Very funny!" Odd shouted, splashing the girl. She shrieked and then kicked the water from another puddle towards him. With a shout Odd leapt up from his puddle and pounced on Aelita, grabbing her in a bear hug. Aelita laughed harder, trying to wrestle herself away.

"Odd, don't!" she shrieked when she realized what he was up to.

"Geronimo!" Odd yelled back, grinning as he fell backwards into a lake of a puddle, drenching both himself and Aelita in even more water. The pair then proceeded to roll around in the water wrestling. Aelita sent a small wave of water at Odd and then attempted to scramble away, but the blonde would have none of it. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back into the water.

"Odd, no!" Aelita cried, laughing as she attempted to bat the blonde away.

"You can't escape the Odd!" Odd shouted triumphantly as Aelita squirmed in his arms. She got herself turned around so that she faced him and planted her hands against his chest in an attempt to shove him away.

Her efforts resulted in Odd lying face up in the puddle with her lying across his chest, Odd's arms around her waist and her hands on his shoulders. Their faces were only inches apart. Blinking, Aelita found herself staring at the boy beneath, unable to convince herself to look away.

Smiling blue eyes stared up at her, along with a matching face-splitting grin. Around these ran the trails of raindrops as they fell against Odd's face, and then continued their journey to the ground below. Even with Odd's happy expression, Aelita couldn't help but be reminded of tears.

"See something you like?"

And the moment was gone.

Blushing profusely, Aelita scrambled back off of Odd's chest, stuttering an apology as she did. Odd simply laughed, sitting up out of the water and looking towards the factory entrance and about a dozen meters away.

"I think we should get inside and warm up, don't you?" Odd suggested. Aelita nodded, and then Odd's hand was grabbing hers, the blonde leading the way into the factory.

_If you want to know  
__what I'm thinking  
Then just turn on the lights  
And you'll know_

"What now?" Aelita asked curiously.

Having slid down the ropes that lead to the factory's main floor, the pair was now standing around, at a loss over what to do next as they stripped out of their soaked jackets.

"We could go down to the supercomputer," Odd suggested with a shrug. "It might be warm in there."

Aelita was about to agree, but something at the back of her mind nagged at her, telling her it wasn't that great of an idea.

"No," Aelita said, shaking her head, an action that sprayed water about. "I don't want to go down there. We wouldn't want to, uh, get something wet," she said, using the first excuse that came to mind.

"Good point," Odd said. He then looked around. "So, where should we go?"

"Somewhere else that's warm," Aelita said, looking around.

"We could go make a fire," Odd suggested. "I know some evil factory equipment that I wouldn't mind lighting on fire."

"Odd," Aelita admonished, "that isn't very nice." Odd shrugged.

"Well, what can we burn besides factory stuff?"

"How about candles?" Aelita suggested. "I'm sure there's some emergency candles around here somewhere that we can use."

"…Good plan," Odd said, smiling at his companion. Aelita smiled back. "So, where should we look?" Odd asked curiously.

"I would think around the offices," Aelita suggested. "I'm pretty sure they're this way," she added, pointing off to the left. Odd motioned for Aelita to lead the way, and the pair headed off to begin their search, leaving sodden jackets to create a puddle on the floor. For a good forty minutes the duo trekked through the factory, searching for what looked like the door to an office room.

"This looks promising," Odd said as they searched through a back corner of the factory, pointing out the opening to a long, dark hallway.

"Are you sure Odd?" Aelita asked, also looking down the hallway. "It looks a little spooky."

"What, afraid of ghosts?" Odd teased, walking backwards in the hallway.

"No!" Aelita huffed, hurrying after Odd when she realized she was about to be left behind. "It just looked very safe."

"Don't worry, this place is perfectly safe," Odd said, turning around as Aelita reached him so that they could walk side by side. "It hasn't fallen over yet, and I would bet my right leg that it never will." To emphasize his point, Odd gave the wall beside him a hard hit. The plaster under his fist immediately crumbled away, and the impact shook dirt loose from the ceiling, causing it to rain down on him.

"You'd better start learning to hop Odd," Aelita laughed as the blonde scowled at the building. "Come on Odd," she said, grabbing the blonde's hand and leading him towards a room with an open door, "let's check in here."

Sticking their heads around the door frame, Odd and Aelita surveyed the room they had found. It seemed they had found the office they were looking for. Against one wall sat a large wooden desk, which appeared to be rotting away if the thin layer of plant life growing along its side meant anything. Behind the desk sat an old chair, its once blue-grey fabric now dirty and moth eaten. Against the fall wall a row of file cabinets stood rusting, and beside them an old sofa sagged under the weight of age.

"Wow," Aelita whispered as she pushed the door open further. Its hinges groaned in loud protest to the movement. "This place is amazing."

"Amazing?" Odd asked, giving Aelita a confused look as she moved further into the room. "It's a dirty old office. What's so amazing about that?"

"Odd, don't you realize someone used to use this office?" Aelita asked, heading for the old desk. "Years ago someone sat in this old chair. I bet they slept on that couch when they worked really late, and those cabinets could have papers this person wrote. It's like we're walking in on someone's home."

When he thought about it like that, Odd could see what Aelita found so fascinating about this place. He walked up to a picture frame hanging on the wall, and scowled when he found the glass too dirtied to see what was behind it. "Maybe this guy was a supervisor here," he suggested, turning to see what Aelita was up to. "He could have even run this whole place!"

"See?" Aelita said, smiling. "Somewhere seems a lot more interesting when you think about its past."

"You're right," Odd said, grinning at his friend. "That's a cool way to look at something." Aelita shrugged.

"Jeremy thinks it's a little weird. I asked him once if he ever wondered about the person who had his dorm before him."

"What did he say?" Odd asked curiously.

"He asked why it would matter and then went back to working on his computer program." Odd laughed.

"That sounds like a familiar scene," Odd said, walking over to join Aelita by the desk, "Jeremy and Aelita at work on a computer."

"Yeah, that's usually what happens when we hang out now," Aelita said. "He didn't used to always want to work on things. He used to go with me on walks around the woods and school, and even the city."

"I remember that," Odd said. "But he couldn't always make it, so you asked me to go instead."

"I did," Aelita said with a smile. "And I'm glad. Walks with you are more fun. I mean, I love walking with Jeremy, but when I ask him about things he gets all scientific. Sometimes it's nice to just use your imagination for once."

"That it is," Odd said with a nod. He then leaned in close to Aelita, like he was about to share a secret. "Between you and me," he whispered, "Sometimes I wonder if Jeremy has an imagination."

Aelita burst out laughing. "I think you're right Odd," she said between giggles. "Can you picture Jeremy as a little kid running around playing make believe?"

"You never know," Odd said, his grin wide. "Jeremy might have run around the house in his robe with a wooden spoon being a wizard."

Aelita gave a very unladylike snort at that mental image before ducking down to check out the cupboards in the old desk.

"Odd, you're terrible," she said with a smile as she pulled open a door. The blonde grinned.

"I do my worst."

"Oh, I know you do," Aelita said. She then reached one hand into the cupboard to search its depths.

"Be careful," Odd warned. "It might be full of spiders."

"I don't think so," Aelita said. "What would a bunch of spiders want with a dusty old cupb- Spider!" Aelita shrieked, whipping her hand out of the cupboard and shaking it at Odd. The blonde let out a higher pitched scream then Aelita was expecting before scrambling across the room and onto the sofa. He stood there for a few seconds, eyes glued to the floor in search of bugs, before he noticed Aelita-

Who was about rolling around on the ground laughing at him.

"That wasn't funny," Odd huffed, slowly getting down from the couch.

"That…was…hilarious!" Aelita gasped around laughs. Odd scowled at her as he made his way back towards the desk, all the while trying to subtly check for any creepy crawlers that might be lurking.

"Don't worry," Aelita said when she spotted him scanning the floor, "There are no spiders. Just these." With a grin she produced from the cupboard a large plastic bag, across the front of which, in large black letters, were the words "EMERGENCY CANDLES." Inside the bag were numerous white candles, as well as a box of matches.

"Good job," Odd said, smiling. Aelita's grin grew.

"I just had to check behind the spiders."

_So don't turn off the lights  
I don't wanna be in the dark tonight  
Cause I can't read your mind  
I need to know if what I'm doing is right_

Sitting down and leaning her back against the side of the factory elevator, Aelita smiled to herself. Spread out before her was a sea of little white candles, each glowing with a little yellow flame. It looked lovely, the light warm and inviting. It made the storm outside seem distant, as if it were the problem of some other pair of people.

"Last one!" Odd cried triumphantly as he struck his final match, waiting for the flame to dim down before leaning over and lighting the last of the candles. Standing back up, he blew out his match, admiring his work. "What do you think?" he asked curiously. Aelita rolled her eyes.

"I think you need to come sit down," Aelita said, patting the ground beside her. Odd checked that all the candles were, indeed, lit, and then came and dropped down to the ground beside Aelita.

"So Aelita, what do you think of today's walk?" Odd asked, looking sideways at Aelita.

"I think it's turning out wonderful," she answered with a wink. "Like an adventure." Odd laughed.

"I bet you and Jeremy never had any walks this exciting," he said. Odd had only meant to joke around, so he was surprised when Aelita's expression drooped. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," Aelita said quickly. "You're right. Jeremy and I never did things like this on our walks. We just talked mostly."

"That's cool," Odd said. "It's always nice to have someone to just talk to." Aelita nodded.

"It is nice. Even if it is mostly science and computers we talk about."

"But you like talking about that stuff, right?" Odd asked curiously. Aelita shrugged, a wry smile on her lips.

"I do, but like I said earlier, sometimes it's nice to look at a flower and not have to know its scientific name."

"Or look at leaves and think people painted them that color," Odd said with a wink. Aelita laughed and nodded.

"Exactly." Aelita pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her arms across them. "It's not that I don't like hanging out with Jeremy," she said, eyes on Odd, "It's just that sometimes he can be a little too…"

"Intense?" Odd supplied. Aelita nodded.

"Yes, intense. He doesn't like to relax together like you do. He used to, when I first came to Earth. He always just wanted to sit together, go for walks, explore. But now he would rather have me help him with his computer programs. As if that's all I want to do. I lived in a computer for ten years! That doesn't make me an expert on them, you would think Jeremy would realize that I might actually be tired of computers!"

Aelita huffed, scowling at the candles for a moment. She then realized she had been ranting and blushed, turning apologetically to Odd.

"Sorry about that," she said, still blushing.

"So, I'm guessing not everything is daisies and sunshine with the school's smartest couple?" Odd asked. Aelita gave him a small smile as she turned back to look at the candles.

"I don't know. I like Jeremy, why wouldn't I? He saved me from Lyoko after all. But he…he never does things like, like this!" Aelita motioned to the sea of candles. "This is sweet and fun and…"

"Romantic," Odd suggested.

"Yes!" Aelita said. She then blushed again. "Not that you and I are, I mean, uh…"

"I get what you mean princess," Odd said with a grin. "You like Jeremy. You wouldn't want to be doing dating things with me."

"Why would you say that?" Aelita asked. "Would you not want to do romantic things with me either?"

"No, that's not what I meant!" Odd said quickly. "I would love to take you on a date! Er, that is to say, I know you and Jeremy, uh…yeah."

Now both teens were blushing. They quickly diverted their attention the puddle of wax forming before them. For a few minutes they remained quiet, both lost in their thoughts. Aelita was the first to break the silence, a question on her lips.

"What if Jeremy wasn't an issue?"

"What?" Odd asked, confused.

"I mean, what of Jeremy was out of the way?" Aelita asked. Odd raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm…not helping you kill him, if that's what you mean."

"No Odd," Aelita said, laughing. "I mean what if there wasn't anything between me and him. Or anything to do with Lyoko. If I was just a normal Kadic student in your class. Would you date me then?"

"Well-"

"And I don't want an answer about how you've dated everyone in our grade," Aelita added. "I mean, would you see me and talk to me and honestly like me enough to go out with me?"

"I…" Odd closed him mouth, thinking for a moment. "Aelita, I don't want to sound creepy or anything, but you're a pretty amazing girl. You're smart and pretty, and you have a great sense of humor. And you're just a very nice person. It's hard to find a girl like that. So yes, I'm sure I would try."

"Really?" Aelita asked. Odd nodded. "You mean it?"

"Every word," Odd said, crossing his finger over his heart. "But only if you'd have me. So…?"

"Hmm…" Aelita hummed. "I guess that depends on our first date. How would it go?" Odd put a finger to his chin in thought.

"Well, I guess I would take you out to dinner," he started. "Somewhere romantic of course. With a candle lit table." Aelita smiled, turning to look out over the simmering candle flames.

"And then what?"

"Well, we would order our meals," Odd continued. "I would get mashed potatoes of course. And you would order the grilled chicken."

"Mmm, I love grilled chicken," Aelita said. "Then what would we do?"

"Well, we wouldn't talk too much while we ate, because I would have picked a place with such amazing food that we just wouldn't be able to help ourselves." Aelita laughed. "After that, we would have wonderful conversation."

"Oh? About what?"

"Uh, boys."

"Boys?"

"Boys," Odd stated, nodding. "And girls too I guess. We would talk about other people we liked once or maybe still like. Or plan to like," Odd added with a shrug.

"Well, that sounds fun," Aelita said. "But I don't know if it's going to keep me."

"But there's more!" Odd said. "After dinner, we'll go for a walk."

"You have my attention," Aelita said with a laugh.

"Well," Odd said, sitting up straighter. "After dinner you and I would go for a walk around the city. I would show you all the lovely sights; and I would pick the perfect night."

"The perfect night?"

"Of course. The starts would all be out and the moon would be full, and it would be the perfect temperature."

"And what temperature is that?" Aelita asked curiously.

"Just a little cooler than warm, but not hot," Odd explained. "That way I have an excuse to hug you close to keep you warm. Like this." Odd leaned over at this, wrapping an arm around Aelita and pulling her closer.

"And I guess I'll just have to snuggle up to stay warm won't I?" Aelita asked. "Like this," she added, scooting closer still.

"Of course," Odd said. "And then I'll walk us to just the right place, where there're some pretty flowers and you can see the most stars and the moon and everything."

"And what will we do there?" Aelita asked curiously.

"We'll stop walking," Odd said, "and turn to look at one another."

"Like this?" Aelita asked, shifting so that she could face Odd. The blonde looked at her and smiled.

"Yep."

"Then what?"Aelita asked softly.

"I give you the most amazing kiss you've ever had."

"Oh?" Aelita asked, leaning closer. "Like this?" Odd was just about to suggest that this might not be too great of an idea, but then their lips were locked and Odd stopped thinking about everything except the feel of Aelita's lips against his own.

The kiss was quick, and as soon as it had begun the pair had pulled apart. Odd was left staring dumb struck as Aelita turned to stare at the candles in an attempt to hide the blush staining her cheeks. She watched the gathering of flames as they danced. A gust of wind from outside blew in and caused them to flicker and dim, but the flames held steady and after a moment grew bright again.

A hand on Aelita's chin pulled her attention back to Odd. His expression was soft, a small but loving and genuine smile gracing his lips. The fire light glowed soft and warm in his eyes.

_See the lights on me  
__I want you to see everything that we can be  
__See the lights on me  
__I want you to see everything that we can be_

"Yes," he said softly as Aelita smiled back, her hand coming up to rest over top of Odd's. "Just like that."

"That sounds like a wonderful date," Aelita said softly.

"So, will you do me the honors?" Odd asked. Aelita's smile grew.

"Yes Odd," she answered. "I would love to."

_So don't turn off the lights_


End file.
